Sea Haven

Sea Haven, a small volcanic island thirty-two miles off the coast of the Nation of Hollywood, is a pirate den and smugglers' hideout of no small reputation. Sea Haven is often compared to (and named after) the Free Colorado city of Sky Haven.

Formed centuries ago by the Haven volcano, Sea Haven is a rare example of an off-shore caldera with a still-active central vent. Geological surveys suggest that the eruption which caused the collapse happened over a thousand years ago, while the central vent has been dormant for almost as long.

The central vent, which has only recently become active again, possesses an unusually narrow profile, the result of ocean weathering during its long dormancy. The vent rises nearly four hundred feet above sea level, and the surrounding caldera peaks at more than twelve hundred feet.

While Sky Haven has no civilian economy, Sea Haven has a large and prosperous civilian population. Living mostly in homes built on the interior wall of the caldera, some two thousand people live on the island, mostly employed in servicing the sublegal activity of the transient pirate and privateer crews passing through.

Sea Haven is a personal bugbear for President David Dunbar, the President of the Nation of Hollywood. A recent spate of attacks by the Ragin' Cajuns gang, known to be staging out of Sea Haven, has exacerbated public outcry at the continued existence of Sea Haven, and the Hollywood Knights have increased patrols in the area.

Apart from the Ragin' Cajuns, the renowned Doctor Wilhelm Fassenbiender also maintained an aircraft fuelling and repair station within the protective walls of Sea Haven.

In 1938, units of the Hollywood Knights attempted to clear out Sea Haven under the authority of the David Dunbar Anti-Piracy Act. The Knights attacked in force, establishing an underground base to support their efforts. They were foiled only by the presence of Nathan Zachary's Fortune Hunters, who were able to drive off the initial assaults and destroy the Knights' base as well as both of the heavy combat zeppelins the Knights had brought in to provide heavy fire support. In the face of such serious opposition, the Knights' efforts to remove the pirate presence in Sea Haven has been indefinitely suspended.

Sea Haven is also well-known as a dangerous place for zeppelins. Lying only a few miles from the main Hollywood - Hawaii route, Sea Haven is a popular place for both airships and ocean vessels to hide during the vicious Pacific storms. Not all of these survive, however, and the islands are dotted with the wrecks of those zeppelins and cargo ships unfortunate enough to be destroyed. Most of these wrecks still contain salvageable treasure, and the hunt for such is a major part of the Sea Haven economy.

Sea Haven does not possess a strong defence, relying on the pirates and privateers currently there to defend it from threats. A single anti-aircraft battery mounted high on one side of the caldera covers the town proper, but the city maintains no formal militia. Most of the locals, however, have taken the time to arm their aircraft.